I'm already mourning my Pokemon Legends: ZA starter choice

Pokemon Legends: ZA It has just been released to most of the world today, and many fans are now starting their journey to Lumiose City or taking their time to do so over the weekend. In a huge way Pokemon Nerd, I've been up-to-date with everything related Pokemon Legends: ZA Before launch, from the new battle system to Megas, because I always want to do my best to build optimal teams. This is something I do all the time because I love the theory and “earning” for success in games. After going back-and-forth with five or six potential teams for each starter, customizing them as best I could, I settled on Tepig, and I deeply regret my choice.

If you are wondering which one Pokemon Legends: ZA Starter to choose from, stop for a second and ask yourself which one you love the most and which one will bring you the most joy. This is probably true of all games where you have to choose a character or critter, and I always find out the hard way that my first playthrough is the worst anyway. That said, there are merits for each of the starters in PLZA, so I'm not saying Tapig is inherently bad. Actually, I love the little pig, and it was my first starter in the Gen 5.

but, Pokemon Legends: ZA There are no new Pokemon, and it all boils down to Mega Evolution and an exciting new battle style. Personally, I've never liked Amboar aesthetically, but I know that Meganium is still pretty badass even after a few buffs, and Feralligator just never clicked with me. So I went and took the cute pig for a walk, started leveling it up, evolving it, and then it hit me — I liked either of the other two starters when it came to team building and aesthetics.

My Pokemon Legends: ZA Starter is suddenly the worst option for me

One of the reasons I don't like Amboar is because it's inherently aggressive with its looks, but that's because I was so unsure about starters. Pokemon Legends: ZA That Mega Amboar is still Fire/Fighting, while Mega Meganium is Grass/Fairy, and Mega Feraligator is Water/Dragon. I love novelty, and that is Exhibit A as to why I would have been happier with Chikorita or Totodile.

Furthermore, there are some awesome new Mega Evolutions in both Fire and Fighting Pokemon Legends: ZALike Chandelur and Piror for the former and Barbarakal, Phalinx and Haulucha for the latter. If I'm to be honest, I like them all more than Amboar. Tepig is a different animal, but unfortunately, the game isn't made for you to keep your beginners as cute little babies forever. Demonstrating why I hate my starter choice is that I want to use Chandelure or Pyror for fire, and possibly Phalinx for combat, but overlapping these types with Amboar is a bad choice.

Here are my current Pokemon Legends: ZA Team

Originally, my plan was to not have any other Fire or Fighting-type Pokemon on the team with Amboar, but since I've seen all the Megas in the game, I don't think that's right for me. Mega Phalinx is probably one of the single best concepts ever developed Pokemon Never games, and Mega Pyror reminds me of one of my three cats. I can technically still use Emboar, Pyroar, and Falinks all on the same team, but that means my coverage is worse, and my weaknesses are shared between different critters. My current team is:

• Emboar (fire/combat)

• Froslas (Ice/Ghost)

• Victribel (grass/poison)

• Scaramory (Steel/Flying)

• electros (electricity)

• Starmie (Water/Psychic)

By choosing Chikorita or Totodile as starters, I could replace them with Victreebel or Starmie respectively, and then replace Emboar and Eelektross with both Pyroar and Falinks, which are probably my favorite new megas. Mega Starmie might be the best new Mega Evolution ever Pokemon Legends: ZAAnd while Mega Meganium's Movepool is terrible, picking Chikorita might be the best option for me so I can keep Starmie on the team as well.

I'm officially putting away my Pokemon Legends: ZA starter in a box

Instead, I now find myself struggling with what to keep and what to do, in fact, I'm considering drastically changing my team, and making the ultimate commitment. Pokemon Sin – removing my starter from the team. While you can catch other starters in the game, I haven't found them yet, and it's not exactly the same thing. So, my plan is to use a completely different team that doesn't include Mega Amboar Pokemon Legends: ZA. It will be as follows:

• Mega Pyroar (Fire/Normal, Special Attack)

• Mega Phalinx (Fighting, Physical Attacker)

• Mega Skirmish (Steel/Flying, Physical Attack)

• Mega Starmie (Water/Psychic, Hybrid Attacker)

• Mega Victribel (Grass/Poison, Special Attacker)

• Mega Exadrill (Ground/Steel, Physical Attacker)

At that point, my team-wide defenses look like this:

I know this might all be a huge pet peeve on my end, but between disliking both Base Ambor and Mega Ambor and liking two Pokemon with overlapping types, I feel like cutting my starter from the team is the only sensible option. After all, the game should be fun, even if it means leaving your first partner Pokemon behind. I find it very sad, and that's why I'm struggling, but at the same time, I think it's for the best.

systems

issued

October 16, 2025

ESRB

Everyone 10+ / Fantasy violence, in-game purchases

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